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Monday, May 31

It 'sort of' describes this week's Color Challenge at Picture Perfect Creations anyways! I used this same color-combo in yesterday's post, too, I LOVED it that much! I also decided to make myself an ankle bracelet for the summer, too! You can't wear flip flops and sandles and not make them look UBER cute with an anklet and nice pedicure, right??

Above, I used 6mm round and 4mm bicone Swarovski crystals and sterling silver beads to make this anklet. The blush color could go peach or pink depending upon what I am wearing. Of course the dark brown is a neutral, and to me, so is the green. Green, in this olive color, will give any outfit a nice accent!!

Sunday, May 30

CARDABILITIES released their latest sketch today! As always, the 30th and 1st of each month reveals an awesome new sketch from Karan Gerber! No. 4 {HERE} and below is a fun conglomeration of circles and squares and scallops! And you know me, I LOVE my Nestibilities, so I was only EAGER to get to this one!

I used a newly released digi by SWEET 'N SASSY STAMPS called 'Anemone Flower' for my card! And as you can see I switched up the center section and put it on an angle. I had originally planned to follow the sketch, but then as I was putting it together it got knocked this way and I was like, "WOW, that's cool!!" ; It is sized just right for a 5 x7 envelope, too, and I didn't even plan it that way! Don't you just LOVE happy accidents?

Saturday, May 29

WOW, was this a crazy week or what!??? OH MY GOSH, it went so fast! Summer is upon us, thank goodness, and with this week's challenge at Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturdays, I decided to make a summery fresh looking card! This week's challenge is a COLOR challenge to use RED, WHITE and BLUE! I didn't take it quite so literal and used aqua, light red and cream!

This image is by the sponsor of this week's challenge 'Creations by Penny' and you could choose this top-selling 'Strawberry Cupcake' image if you are lucky enough to be drawn as this week's winner!! Actually if you win, you get to choose EIGHT DIGIS of your choice! That is awesome!!

Be sure to play along! BUT, before you do go see the rest of the creations by the Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturdays Design Team {HERE}!!

Friday, May 28

Last Day of School today! WOOHOO! Let the sleeping in commence! Here's pics from this morning and I think my Isaac is going to miss having me all to himself! Ya think?? Sorry that I have no new card for ya today. I still need to run to the Awards program and pick up a gift for the bus driver and a few others! In addition to my second-year-student at IUPUI (JOSH, who got all A's and one B second semester WOOTWOOT!) I will have a third grader, a second grader and a KINDERGARTNER (SIGH!) as of 3pm! SNIFF!

Thursday, May 27

WOOHOO, it's Thursday! Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is having another brand new challenge today! Go to the SNR or PCP forums to get the details on how to play to win some freebie digis that are normally in the STORE HERE!

I am having some computer issues and can't share the watermarked images, but if you click on the links above, they will take you to the challenges with clear details and pictures, too!

Another awesome release today from Meljen's Designs! This release comes straight from the heart and means so much to Melissa, the genius illustrating mind behind Meljen's Designs. Her father was in the military and has since past and with Memorial Day coming up, she wanted to create some images in the theme of "Remembrance" in honor of him.

New Release #10 - "In Loving Memory"

We also have some "Extras" that we don't want you to miss out on as well!

All of these images are available in the Meljen's Shop {HERE} as singles or you can buy the full "In Loving Memory" Pack for a special pack price {HERE}! Also, as a special treat for you, Melissa is having a special Memorial Day sale this weekend only!

Along with a NEW RELEASE comes a NEW CHALLENGE! You could just be picked to win some freebie digis of your choice! So play along! This week is Silver and Gold!

Be sure to head on over to Meljen's Designs BLOG HERE to see a few more creations using this New Release! I am so happy you stopped by today! I hope your Memorial weekend is sweet and you take a moment to remember those who mean so much to you, especially those who have served to protect or freedom.

Tuesday, May 25

Tuesday Morning Sketches {HERE} is an AWESOME Sketch Challenge Blog that Meljen's Designs is sponsoring beginning today! How cool is that?? Below is Sketch #47 to use for inspiration at your craft table this week! AND if you play along, you may just be drawn to win four (YES, FOUR!!) images of your choice FREE from the STORE!

At top, our Meljen's Designs Designer SHANA pulled a FABULOUS card together using the Tuesday Morning Sketches challenge AND a MD image called 'A Girl and Her Kitty'. See the details of Shana's card {HERE} at her blog, Two Cute Little Monsters!

A HUGE Thank You to Melissa Craig for giving us the opportunity to sponsor her awesome challenge blog! We hope we can do it often!

Monday, May 24

Anyone UP for a COLOR CHALLENGE?? Well, does Picture Perfect Creations have one for you to try!! This week you need to use Handsome Hunter, Ballet Blue and Cameo Coral (or similar colors if you don't have these exact papers). I used a cutie patootie image by Meljen's Designs called 'Prancing Poodle' which was just released last Thursday!

And of course there is a prize to be had, which Megan will post later this week, so put PPC in your favorites so you don't forget to check it out! Be sure to see all of the pretty creations made by the PPC Creators Design Team HERE on the Challenge Blog! Their cards and layouts each week just amaze me!!

Saturday, May 22

Another awesome challenge is facing you over at Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturdays! This week's challenge is a sketch that I offered Regina to use this time! I always think it is so very cool when I see one of my sketches come to life in so many talented ways by artists and paper-crafters! Please join us and enter to win a prize with this week's sponsor POLLY CRAFTS! If you are lucky enough to win, you will get five freebie digis of your choice from their STORE HERE!!

Below I used their Patchwork Elephant, ain't he cute?? I have to say that I came up with the sketch weeks ago and just made my card YESTERDAY! And it came together rather quickly, so it must be a half-decent sketch, right?? HA! I used some great papers by My Mind's Eye along with some Prima and Kaiser Bling! Copics for coloring, of course! This card is a 5x7 size, so I added extra flowers to the sketch! Let me know what you think!!

Thursday, May 20

WOOHOO, it's Thursday! New 'Bitty Bugs' (above) from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps are perfect for the brand new challenge today! Go to the SNR or PCP forums to get the details on how to play to win the digi below and another of YOUR CHOICE in the STORE HERE!

Wednesday, May 19

HAPPY HUMP DAY!! WOOHOO! Half-way through the week! WHEW! I am spent already! I have to say that those baseball games in the evening are tiring, but MAN can my Eli play ball! He hit the ball at his finest last night, I CAN NOT even begin to tell you! AND he got a crucial opponent OUT at home plate, too! WOWSERS, for a 45 lb. 8 year old, he is AWESOME!

ANYHOO! Today is Whimsie Wednesday CHALLENGE DAY at the PCP Forum HERE! This week's challenge is to use plaid! So come on out and play! I used the Texting Teen by WhimsieDoodles.com to make a fun card for the daughter of a friend of mine... shh! I hope she likes it!

My fellow PPC Creators and I would really LOVE to get more particpants and followers at Picture Perfect Creations, which is a color challenge blog that I am a 'Creator' on! SO, we've decided to have a....

'Follow PPC' Contest!

We want to reach at least 150 followers by Monday, May 24th, and we NEED your help!

All you have to do to win is become a follower of PPC-CC AND submit a design this week for the #13 color combo challenge {below}! See my card using this color combo HERE!! A random drawn-winner will get 12 yards of Shabby Vintage Seam Binding donated by our very own PPC Creator, Debbie!!! The contest ends at 10am EST on Monday, May 24th.

Debbie is also running a challenge special for us this week ... when you make a card or project using the Week #13 colors and post it at PPC, THEN go to her site, Simple Treasures and leave her a comment on her PPC #13 post HERE letting her know that you want to be entered into her blog contest!! One lucky participant will win two yards of the colors of your choice of her Shabby Vintage Seam Binding, as well!! There are 15 colors viewable in her Etsy Shop! Hope you join us!

Good Morning! Today marks my official countdown to summer! Just 10, YES TEN!!, more school days until the kids are out of school and the sleeping in can commence! HAHA! That's actually not true, as I still plan to get up before everyone else to get a quick work out accomplished, but at least the kids will be able to sleep in and get some extra sleep! BOY are they grouchy in the morning!!

ANYHOOO!!! Here's my card for your viewing pleasure! ;o) I used this week's new Picture Perfect Creations color combo #13 for my card! When I first saw these I immediately figured I would make a masculine card and knew EXACTLY which digis would be perfect for this! HAHA, these SUPER DAD DIGIS HERE and HERE by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps are ideal for this color combo! The green galore is so cute for this super hero's outfit!!

I used plain cardstock for my card and used versamark ink to make a watermark of some stars on the gable green cardstock. I didn't want to add too much, being a masculine card and all, ribbon and glitter wouldn't have probably suited my hubby, but the black Kaiser pearls look okay, don't you think? Well, I hope you join us over at Picture Perfect Creations! There's always a prize to be won each week, so I hope you face this challenge and try to win some goodies!

Saturday, May 15

WOW, we are just zipping through these challenges this week! I don't know about you, but I LOVE a good challenge! And this one surely didn't disappoint! Today's card is a COMBO challenge!! Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturdays' challenge this week is to make something MASCULINE! Fresh Brewed Designs is sponsoring this challenge and has a prize for you to win! So CLICK HERE to see those details and other Masculine creations by the SSDS Design Team!

I also combined the Masculine challenge with the LATEST and GREATEST sketch from Cardabilities to make this birthday card for a boy!! How's that for tackling the challenges??

I used a super cute image from Meljen's Designs to whip this one up! Some really cute jungle inspired papers by Die Cuts with a View along with a Stampin' UP! sentiment make this one so fun for a boy to receive on his big day! Be sure to join in on these challenges if you lose your mojo, I know it always helps me!!!

Friday, May 14

Deedee has been designing digis for Korin at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps for some time, so some of these images may be familiar to you! However, Deedee has decided to answer God's call to support her family by starting her own digi-line!! Please help the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Design Team send her off in style today with a blog hop celebration of the grand opening of "Deedee's Digis!" You'll find fun, creative inspiration at each stop, along with several chances to win freebies from Deedee's new store {HERE}!!

Here's a collection of my cards using some of Deedee's images! This first card is a new one using 'Little Things', which includes the sentiment, too! I used some Die Cuts with a View papers to create a scene to highlight Deedee's bear! So cute, I love how this turned out! I entered this into the CardPatterrns Sketch challenge this week, too!!

The next four cards are some cards I created last fall and winter and are still some of the ones I still hoard today, except for one that I sent TO DEEDEE! LOL! This one is using Deedee's 'Pick of the Harvest' digi! Coloring the leaves is so fun!

This gingerbread house is part of 'Gingerbread Holidays' which is a set of this house, a gingerbread COUPLE and some sentiments, too!

This cutie patootie bear is from the 'Leave Me Smiling' set which also includes four sentiments (ALL for just $3.00)!! Doesn't he look like he's getting ready for a long winter's nap!?? HEEHEE!

And finally, here's one of my absolute favorite images by Deedee because of the scene it creates! 'Noses 4 Sale' is just uber cute and will surely bring a spark to anyone receiving a card using this image!!

Leave a comment here on my blog to win a FREE DIGI of your choice from Deedee's store! To see what you have to choose from, CLICK HERE! THEN be sure to go through the entire BLOG HOP list and leave comments on the other designers' blogs as well for even MORE chances to win! OH, and the final STOP has a freebie digi to grab and has the GRAND PRIZE posted there too, so don't miss that!

Thursday, May 13

Here's another challenge for you today! I made for this week's Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps CHALLENGE! This week's challenge is 'From the Garden'! I am sure this means you can use veggies or flowers or whatever is in YOUR garden! Do you have a gnome or a frog or a butterfly fluttering around in there? Then be sure to enter into this week's challenge! There are prizes to be had, too, don't forget about that!! Be sure to check out this week's challenge at PaperCraftPlanet {HERE} and/or Scrapbook News and Review {HERE}; there is a great prize to be earned and many friends to be made!

My card above is using Lilacs for Cocoa on some bright and fun paper by Die Cuts with a View! I coordinated the Melon Mambo pink papers with some ribbon to make this one bright! The border punch is by Fiskars and the sentiment is from the Ice Cream set by Sweet 'n Sassy, too!

If you play along by midnight tonight (eastern time), you will get the BerryCocoa image (above) FREE! That's right, I will email it to you myself! But, if you don't have time today, then don't fret, you can still get this cute watering can FREE by playing along by next Wednesday! You have a whole week for this one! Oh, and I guess I should clarify, if you play by tonight, you get BOTH images for FREE! Gotta LOVE that!

To see the latest digis released at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, CLICK HERE! Korin has been putting out digis weekly, if not, daily! So be sure to check out the store!! Hop on over to the challenge forums and join in the fun!!

Happy THURSDAY!! Another busy day here on the blog, my peeps!! Today marks yet another new release at MELJEN'S DESIGNS, along with a NEW challenge, too!!

My card is using the new GARDEN BIRD HOUSE image with some perfectly coordinating Die Cuts with a View papers and Old Olive Stampin' UP! ribbon. The sentiment is from the Cheery Chat Stamp set by Stampin' UP!, but I believe it is retired now.

CLICK HERE to zap on over to the MELJEN DT BLOG to read all of the details of the newest challenge and to see even MORE creations using the new Garden and Flower images that Melissa released today!!

Monday, May 10

Yes, I am feeling a bit old today. I officially have a child in their 20's! AGK!! I think this is where it starts downhill! LOL! Yesterday was KayLee's 7th birthday, guess I could have posted something about it, huh? Mother's Day was crazy busy with celebrating both events yesterday and of course today is crazier! I still need to make cookies for KayLee's class today and also a cheesecake for Josh, too! But, before getting to those things, I had to make a card for ya!

Today's card is using the new color challenge at PICTURE PERFECT CREATIONS!! Challenge 12 is to use Bravo Burgundy, Sage Shadow, Perfectly Plum and Soft Suede. Well, I did pretty good with three out of the four, but bringing in that plum just didn't work! I LOVE the color combo, but just couldn't pull it together! SO, when all else fails, ADD BLING! LOL!

My RAGGY PUPPY image is by Meljen's Designs that you can see HERE in the store and the sentiment is from Whimsie Doodles and is a RUBBER stamp you can see HERE. The patterned paper is from Die Cuts with a View (Linen Closet line). I used a Stampin' UP! stamp to add in the burgundy hearts and SUP ribbon in the Soft Suede, you know I have to have RIBBON in my cards!

Be sure to check out ALL of the designers creations using this color combo on the main PPC Challenge Blog HERE! And be sure to join in for a chance to win this week's prize, too!!

Saturday, May 8

Not sure if you heard (or read yesterday's post) but KayLee broke her arm at school on SILLY HAIR DAY! Here's what she looked like before she left for school, then here's the way she looked yesterday after getting some vampire teeth at the doctor's office for a check up! AND of course, Isaac went along and helped himself to the treasure chest, too! LOL! She's doing well, yet still very swollen and on good medication with codeine; I think I need some of that!!

She's gonna be fine, but required ALL of my attention yesterday. SO, I didn't have a chance to get my creation ready for this week's Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturday CHALLENGE HERE! Be sure to check it out and play along, there's a great prize to be won!! Hugs and Thanks to all who have prayed for KayLee! We all appreciate it!!

Howdy!

The Merriam-Webster's Dictionary states that an ARTISAN IS: one that produces something in limited quantities often using traditional methods. Yep, that's me! Artistry originates from the soul and is about expressing one's self. A TRUE artist creates from talent that is found from WITHIN, not from copying another! I want to share my love of art and design with you!

Background Check

Opinionated Woman - born in PA - lived in FL, TX, VA & IN, obviously - Genius IQ - didn't apply it in school LOL! - married at 18 - mom to first boy at 19 { HE is now in college at 21 }- divorced at 23 - bachelorette - past kitchen, bath & furniture designer - one cat - remarried at 30 to Honey (a.k.a. Scott)- mom again to boy 9, and again to girl 8, and last time to boy 6 - losing my mind, ha ha - added another cat - another outside cat added me -finally got a puppy {named Pepsi} I have been wanting for years - now 40 - present jewelry designer - and artist - and paper~crafter - futurewho knows what ? {SCENTSY CONSULTANT, that's what! CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MY REAL 'JOB'!}- Livin' the good life IN LOVE - Nicole

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What IS Lampwork?

Not everyone understands what "Lampwork" means. SO, in my meager attempt to explain what it is, I hope it clarifies my lust for it!

Simply put, lampwork is: Glass beads made by hand with a torch. Individually made (one bead at a time) by melting skinny sticks of glass (called stringers) onto a non-stopping spinning mandrel (metal stick that makes the bead hole) in order to keep the bead's round symetrical shape. How's that for a run-on sentence??

To realize the patience and talent that goes into EACH and EVERY bead will make you a lover as well! The flowing scrolls take experience, the evenly spaced dots and swirls take a steady hand AND focused eye!

Each bead is a miniature 'Work of Art'! NOW do you understand why I LOVE and APPRECIATE them??